When Everyone Else Is On Vacation

I’ll admit, I’m still getting used to this whole not working concept. My favorite way to describe it is I finally have a chance to pause between thoughts – I’m not thinking about three things at once. The pace of life has definitely slowed down, but it’s not slow by any definition.

May and June were incredibly busy. My family was in town and then I spent 8 days in Greenville, SC cheering on my son’s soccer team as they unexpectedly made a run to the finals in the Southern Regional Championships. Before I knew it, June was over and July was here.

The beginning of July means 4th of July celebrations. Like most Americans, we tend to travel over the holiday weekend. Nothing says summer like BBQ, beach and fireworks and we’ve had some really cool experiences celebrating all across the country in the past. This year, however, we made no plans as we needed a break. An unstructured weekend with lots of extra time seemed too luxurious to waste.

A funny thing happens when you stay home when everyone else is on vacation. You start to see your hometown in a different light. Roads that stress you out during rush hour are suddenly pretty open. You have an opportunity to look at what’s around you. Maybe it’s a restaurant you didn’t know was there or just scenery and landscaping you never pay attention to. The movie theater parking lot is a little less crowded and the line at the grocery store moves a little bit faster.

All of a sudden I found myself taking a deep breath, my shoulders started to relax and I really started to unwind. It was subtle at first, but then I noticed everyone around me was kind of operating at the same pace. No one was rushing to get from point A to point B. People seemed content to move at a leisurely pace. I started to wonder if this is how people feel who live full-time in vacation destinations.

None of this was planned. My husband and I were two ships passing in the night in June. Between his work travel and my soccer travel, we only had a couple of days together throughout the month. The idea of staying home for 4th of July happened by default. We wanted to spend time together a family and neither of us really wanted to sleep in a different bed or eat out at yet another restaurant.

It ended up being such an unexpected bonus to find life slowing down around us at home. For the first time in a long time being home really meant relaxing and enjoying a break from all the day to day chaos. I’m not sure how to exactly recreate what happened, but I do know that next time there is a holiday weekend, I may be a little more eager to stay around and see what happens.